Foto Friday!

Crazy cat!! She was laying in front of the fire last night! :)

Menu for this week

I need to post the recipes from last week but I keep forgetting them at home.

Sunday: Homemade Spaghetti and meatballs
Monday: Enchiladas
Tuesday: Shrimp with Feta and Tomatoes (We didn't have it on Friday)
Wednesday: Tostada Salads
Thursday: Ground beef with zucchini
Friday - Sunday : Going out

Countdown!

We leave for Wisconsin and Texas in 8 days! I checked out the forecast on Accuweather and its suppose to be 15 degrees in Wisconsin next week! WOW thats cold!!! Okay so can I change my mind now? I don't want to freeze for 2 weeks!!!

We finished our Christmas shopping this weekend! Whohooo! Next weekend Russ and I are celebrating Xmas. We are going to dinner, Sharks game, and then staying at De Anza Hotel in downtown San Jose.

Menu This Week

We have a busy week, and Russ is leaving town for the weekend so I'm not planning anything. Here's whats on the menu.

Monday: Mini Pizza's with Pesto, Chicken, Prosciutto and Tomatoes

Tuesday: Kung Pao Chicken

Wednesday: Broccoli and Cheddar Cheese Soup

Thursday: Eating out we are going to the Sharks game

Friday: Shrimp with Feta and Tomatoes

Christmas Cards

After many attempts of getting a Christmas Card Picture we ended up with these two finalist.
We ended up choosing the one with Domino! We pick them up today, and hopefully they will be in the mail by the end of the week!

Thanksgiving Part #2

After shopping on Black Friday we headed home and pulled out our Christmas decorations! Since Russ really wanted to buy a fake tree last year, I gave in and told him as long as I can take advantage of it (putting it up the day after Thanksgiving and taking it down New Years Day.) Now our house is all ready for Christmas! Even Domino likes the tree!

Don't mind the rug, I don't like it there but we made a fire and had to put something in front of it.

My fake tree skirt, since I cant find one I like

Our second Thanksgiving was on Sunday at my Dad's house. We had yummy prime rib, yorkshire pudding, twice baked potatoes, ceasar salad, and green bean casserole! We also had toasted raviolis for appetizers! We were all stuffed!

Now that Thanksgiving is over are getting ready for our multiple Christmas celebrations! I can't believe it but our schedules are booked through the first of the year! (Well we are out of town for 2 weeks.)

Thanksgiving Part 1

We had 2 Thanksgivings; one on Thanksgiving with Mom, Jeff, Stephanie & her boyfriend Evan, then another one on Sunday with Dad, Shu-Jen, Steph and Evan.

Thanksgiving #1 we had: Turkey, Stuffing, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans, Cranberry Sauce, Sweet Potatoes, and rolls. For dessert we had Pecan Pie and Tunnel of Fudge Pumpkin Cake!

We spent the night, so I could wake up at 6am and go shopping with Mom, Steph, Evan and Falynn. We hit Penny's first, not much of a crowd there. Next stop was Macy's where we ended up standing in line for an hour!! We made a few more stops and were home around 12:30.

Heres a few pics!

CSA - Farm Fresh to You

Last month we started getting CSA boxes. We signed up for an all fruit box once a month! It took us about 2 1/2 weeks to get through all the fruit, but it was yummy!

Our second box came today with:
2lbs Bartlett Pears
2lbs Empire Apples
2 lbs Navel Citrus (Oranges)
2lbs Pinklady Apples
1.5 lbs Mandarin Oranges
1 lb Honeycomb Apples (Was suppose to be a Pomegranate but they ran out)
1 pnt Cherry Tomatoes
.5 lb Baby mixed green lettuce

We both love apples but man we got a lot!!! Anyone know any good recipes?

Happy Halloween!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Last night we carved our pumpkins. Last year we took a picture with Domino in the pumpkin so we thought we would try again, she had another idea. hehehe Anyways heres our pictures!

And a picture of Domino from last year... She looks so tiny!

WOW 4 posts in 1 day!

Don't think I am going to make a habit out of this!

Tunnel O Fudge Pumpkin Cake

This cake came highly recommended by a friend. I want to try and make it for Thanksgiving so I thought I would try it out a month early to make sure it "tastes" okay! It turned out really good, I cant wait to make it with the frosting!!

Ingredients
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
2 sticks (1/2 pound) soft unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin
2 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted
Chocolate Glaze:
1 cup heavy cream
6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 tablespoon butter

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a 12-cup Bundt pan; dust with flour or cocoa.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and ginger. Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream the butter, both sugars and the vanilla with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each. At low speed, mix in the dry ingredients in 3 additions, alternating with the pumpkin.
Transfer 1 cup of batter to a small bowl; stir in the chocolate. Spoon 3 cups of the pumpkin batter into the prepared pan; smooth the top. Using a small spoon, make a shallow ditch in the center of the batter, forming a ring. Drop the chocolate batter into the ditch. Cover with the remaining pumpkin batter, smoothing the top.
Bake for 45–50 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan on a rack for 15 minutes, then turn out to cool completely. If desired, prepare Chocolate Glaze and drizzle over the cooled cake. Let stand until set.
Chocolate Glaze :
In a saucepan, bring the cream to a boil. Remove from heat. Add the chocolate and butter; stir until smooth. Let cool for 1 hour, until thickened but pourable.

Mini Bacon and Potato Frittatas

Saturday night Russ and I went to a California Merlot Wine Tasting Party. For appetizers we decided to bring Mini Bacon and Potato Frittatas. They turned out very good!

Mini Bacon and Potato Frittatas

recipe from Cooking Light, December 2006

Ingredients
2 cups finely chopped peeled baking potato (about 12 ounces)
5 bacon slices (uncooked)
1/2 cup finely chopped sweet onion
1 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 cup chopped fresh chives, divided
2 tablespoons grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
7 large egg whites, lightly beaten
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
Cooking spray
6 tablespoons fat-free sour cream

Preparation
Preheat oven to 375°.
Place potato in a medium saucepan; cover with water. Bring to a boil; cook 4 minutes or until almost tender. Drain.
Cook bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, reserving 2 teaspoons drippings in pan. Crumble bacon; set aside. Add potato, onion, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and thyme to drippings in pan; cook 8 minutes or until potato is lightly brown over medium-high heat. Remove from heat; cool.
Combine the potato mixture, bacon, remaining 3/4 teaspoon salt, 2 tablespoons chives, cheese, pepper, egg whites, and eggs, stirring well with a whisk. Coat 36 mini muffin cups with cooking spray. Spoon about 1 tablespoon egg mixture into each muffin cup. Bake at 375° for 16 minutes or until lightly brown. Cool 5 minutes on a wire rack. Remove frittatas from muffin cups. Top each with 1/2 teaspoon sour cream and 1/2 teaspoon chives.

Fall Decorations!

I did a major cleaning of the house on Saturday, so I took some time to take a few pictures of my fall decorations. I don't have much, hopefully next year I will have some more.

Baby Visits!

Last weekend our good friends Tav and Melissa came over to watch the Sharks game on Friday night. They brought their daughter Petra (aka Pee-wee) with them.

Here are a few pictures of her.

OH... and the Sharks won! Whohooo!

Update

I haven't had time to update lately, so here's a quick recap.



HOCKEY SEASON HAS STARTED!! :) You can see pictures from the Teal & White game (The team plays each other for Season Ticket holders) at www.RussandMichelle2007.com/tw08



Disneyland was a blast! We had a great time with Falynn, Frankie and the kids... Pictures at www.RussandMichelle2007.com/disneyland



Umm what else. Celebrated both my mom's and my birthday. We made some awesome dinners! For my mom's birthday we made a Korean BBQ, everything turned out delicious! For my birthday we made homemade calzones. YUM!! (pictures coming soon)



This weekend we are going to a California Merlot Wine tasting party that Russ's friends are holding.



We are excited to be going to Wisconsin for Christmas!



Our Alaskan cruise is now turning into a party!

So far the following are going with us:

• Dad & Shu-Jen


• Karen & Jerry


• Doug, Monica & Devin


• Vicky


• Monica's Mom

Shrimp with Feta and Tomatoes

I thought this one would be perfect since we have sooo many tomatoes right now. It turned out great! We had it on top of lettuce instead of brown rice.

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon Olive Oil
4 scallions, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 pound large shrimp, pealed and divined
1/3 cup feta cheese
1/4 cup minced parsley
4 cups Hot cooked brown rice.

Directions:
1. In a large nonstick skillet, heat the oil. Add scallions and garlic. Cook until softened 2-3 minutes.
2. Add the tomatoes, wine, lemon juice, oregano, and pepper. Stirring as needed, cook until the tomatoes are just softened about 2 minutes. Add the shrimp; reduce the heat and simmer until the shrimp turns pink 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the cheese and parsley. Serve the rice topped with the shrimp mixture.

Per serving: 395 calories, 7g Total Fat, 3g Saturated Fat, 150mg Cholesterol, 284mg Sodium, 53mg Total Carbohydrate, 5g Fiber, 27g Protein, 146mg Calcium.

WW Points Per Serving: 7

Got this from WW Cookbook " Simply the best"

Turkey Tortilla Casserole

Ingredients:
2 teaspoons oil
1 green bell pepper; seeded and chopped
1 onion, chopped
1/2 pound ground turkey
1 14 1/2 oz can Cajun-styled stewed tomatoes
1 cup refried beans
1 4oz can chopped green chiles rinsed and drained
6 6" corn tortillas quartered
1/3 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350
2. In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil, add the pepper and onion; cook stirring as needed until softened about 5 minutes.
3. Add the turkey and cook, stirring as needed until browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, beans and chiles; bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered, until slightly thickened about 5 minutes.
4. Spoon 1/3 of the turkey mixture onto the bottom on a 10x6 baking pan. Arrange half the tortillas. Repeat the layering once more ending with the turkey mixture. Sprinkle evenly with the cheese. Bake, covered 20 minutes. Uncover and bake until heated through and golden about 10 minutes longer.

Per serving: 291 calories, 5g Total Fat, 1g Saturated Fat, 42mg Cholesterol, 774mg Sodium, 28mg Total Carbohydrate, 6g Fiber, 24g Protein, 202mg Calcium.

WW Points Per Serving: 5
I got this from a Weight Watchers Cookbook - "Simply the Best"

I didn't put the beans in since R doesn't like them and it turned out great!

Cider-Dijon Chicken

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 4-ounce skinless boneless chicken breast
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup apple cider/juice
1/4 cup nonfat sour cream
1/4 cup minced parsley
4 Cups Hot cooked brown rice

Directions:
1. In large nonstick skillet, heat the oil. Add the garlic and cook until lightly browned.
2. Add the chicken, mushrooms, broth and mustard; bring to boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until the chicken is cooked through, 8-10 minutes.
3. In a small bowl, combine the flour with enough of the cider to make a paste; then stir in the remaining cider. Add to the chicken mixture; cook, stirring constantly, until boils and thickens, about 2 minutes. Stir in sour cream and parsley; cook about 1 minute. Serve over rice.

Per Serving: 421 Calories, 5g Total Fat, 1g Saturated Fat, 66mg Cholesterol, 291mg Sodium, 56g Total Carbohydrate, 4g Fiber, 24g Protein, 65mg Calcium
WW Points Per Serving: 8
From Weight Watchers "Simply the Best" cookbook

JACKPOT! We are going to ALASKA!!!

WHOHOOOOO!!! Its only 226 days away! :)

On our last cruise we pre-purchased a future cruise. You paid $100/person and they gave you a credit of $250 to use towards the deposit of your next cruise. Ever since we got back from that cruise in January we have been watching rates trying to find a good deal for a cruise we wanted to go on.

Today we hit the jackpot! Norwegian sent an email about a sale with an 8 category upgrade. I knew the sale was a bunch of crap since they seem to raise the prices when they do that, but I decided to check the rates and see whats out there.

I found an Alaskan cruise for $499 for an inside room. I have been debating if I really wanted an inside room or if I wanted to pay for the balcony. I looked at the excursions, I was hooked, screw the balcony we can get an inside room and use the extra money to go on AWESOME excursions!

So we booked it! Here's where we are going:

What makes it even better is it goes out of Vancouver and into Seattle. This way we can see both places. I'm hoping we can go up a day or two early and check out Vancouver and Victoria and then stay in Seattle for a night after.

Now I can't stop looking at excursions, but I will save those for a different post another day!

Day Dreaming!

I changed the background of this blog to fit my mood lately! I have had ZERO motivation and keep looking at travel websites and blogs dreaming about our next vacation! We do have a small vacation coming up. We are going to Disneyland for 2 days! As nice as it will be to get away I wish it was for longer. The major bummer will be if I get jury duty the Monday we come back! I'm crossing my fingers I don't get called, I really do not want to be in Martinez at 8am!

New Computer, new software!

Whohooo! We finally got a new home computer! When we moved we had 2 computers and a laptop. Within a month the first one died, a few months later the other one died. We were left with only out laptop which Russ uses for business every once in a while. We have been talking about getting a new computer for pictures, on Thursday Russ finally bought one. We ordered it on Thursday and it arrived yesterday! Damn Dell your awesome!! I didn't think it would come that fast!

Since we got a new computer we also go some software to play with pictures. We got Adobe Lightroom. I cant wait to play with it!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RUSS!

Sunday was Russ's Birthday we took a drive and were going to go to Sand Harbor. We got there and found out it was $8/car for parking. We changed our minds and went back to a scenic lookout that we saw about a mile back. We hiked down the rocks and got closer to the lake.

After hanging out for a little bit, Falynn, Frankie and the kids took us out to lunch to celebrate. After lunch we went back to the house to hang out. We had a yummy dinner with, wings, brats, hamburgers, salad, zucchini. For dessert we had shots of tequila and carrot cake.

HAPPY 26th Birthday Russ! I love you!